The Lower Saxony Milk Route: from the stall to the milking parlour

Not to be confused with the Milky Way, the Lower Saxony Milk Route links milking parlours and farms on a 190km picturesque tour past sandy heathland, marshes and moors, to provide a microcosm of the dairy industry.

This route, divided into four circuits and best explored by bicycle (available for hire), is a great way to find out about dairy farming past and present, whilst taking in plenty of healthy North Sea air on the way through the Altes Land am Elbstrom and Cuxland regions. Fuelled by the occasional bar of dairy milk chocolate, cyclists will find the level flat and easy going. There are plenty of opportunities to stop off at one of the route's many dairy parlours for a spot of cheese or yoghurt tasting, or some other tasty treat. While the kids are in the petting zoo, the adults can get the full low down on all things milk-related, including calf-rearing, high-tech dairy farming and how that lovely white stuff gets inside our milk cartons – or even take a crash degree course in the dairy arts. By the end of this tour even the slickest of city-slickers will know one end of a cow from the other, and realise that milk doesn't just show up on our supermarket shelves by magic. So what are you waiting for? Just look out for the mischievous cow-on-wheels signs and you'll be on the right track.

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